Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Roof Rat Hauntings

I suppose it's only appropriate to tell horror stories about zombies and rats during the hallowed month of October when the ghosts and goblins come out haunting. In my house, it's the rats that do the haunting and there is no place to run to get away from them.

In the middle of the night I hear footsteps running above the ceiling.

While watching TV I hear the wires in the ceiling being picked up and dropped.

It's us against the roof rats.

I think the rats have become smarter because although I hear them in the ceiling, they avoid the peanut butter laced rat traps. Or maybe they are getting smarter avoiding immediate death by trap but luckily they are still ending up dead.

It's not that I'm an evil person, wishing animals dead. The roof rats cause damage, carry disease and multiply - quickly too. We can't co-exist in my house. The only place for these roof rats is in a buzzard infested cemetery buried belong the skeletons.

I'm finding my fears coming true also as we try and eradicate these rats. My two biggest fears are a live rat inside the house or one falls on me from the trap set above the master bath. The last 2 rats caught directly challenge that fear.

The trap was still moving with rat #6. It wasn't dead. I told John he needs a plan B. Plan B...something to contain the rat since it was still living. Ignoring my pleas, he pulled down the trap with channel locks while the very alive rat squealed and wimpers as it was clinging to the ceiling and grabbing frantically to the light. It was caught by it's leg(s) and John dangled it from the trap. Doing what I usually do, I follow cautiously but not close enough to see it and when turning the corner he yells...you little bugger. He got out! Because the rat was paralyzed, it didn't go anywhere and met it's fate.

Rat #7 joined our story tales just before 6am last Sunday. John got up to use the restroom, felt something touch his body and then a splash. As he flipped on the bathroom light waking me from my sleep, I asked if he caught one. Worse, he replied.

What could be worse except a live rat in the house?

There are two very lucky things regarding this soon to be dead rat. First, it fell on John and not me. I would have used my zombie scream had it fallen on me. Second, it bounced off John and fell into the toilet where it decided to escape diving deeper into the toilet where it was promptly flushed. It's a good thing the rat went for the deep dive because by that time I had a butcher knife and BBQ tongs in hand.

Only a week left until the ghoulish October month ends. Will the rats also leave with the ghosts?

2 comments:

Oh my gosh, haha, that sounds TERRIBLE! How big are these creatures? At one of my old jobs we had mice in the ceiling/attic. I would hear them squeak and run in what sounded like massive herds. Good luck...

Rats! Ack! Just hearing their name sent chills to my spine. Last year, we encountered the same problem. Rodents were running all over the house. They were pretty much everywhere. Seeing the gravity of the situation, I immediately called my trusted pest-control contractor. Now I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that my house is rodent-free! [Bridgette Adair]

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